Sir Aubrey (Hunt) de Vere, 2nd Baronet (28 August 1788 – 5 July 1846) p. 2. was an Anglo-Irish poet and landowner. De Vere was the son of Sir Vere Hunt, 1st Baronet and Eleanor Pery, daughter of

William Pery, 1st Baron Glentworth William Cecil Pery, 1st Baron Glentworth (26 July 1721 – 4 July 1794) was an 18th-century Anglican bishop in Ireland. He was born on 26 July 1721, the son of Reverend Stackpole Pery and Jane Twigg, daughter of William Twigg, Archdeacon of ...

and his first wife Jane Walcott. He was educated at Harrow School, where he was a childhood friend of

Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and has been regarded as among the ...

, and Trinity College, Dublin. He married Mary Spring Rice, the daughter of Stephen Edward Rice and Catherine Spring, and sister of

Thomas Spring Rice, 1st Baron Monteagle of Brandon Thomas Spring Rice, 1st Baron Monteagle of Brandon, (8 February 17907 February 1866) was a British Whig politician, who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1835 to 1839. Background Spring Rice was born into a notable Anglo-Irish fam ...

, in 1807. He succeeded to his father's title in 1818. He and Mary had five sons, including the third and fourth baronets, Aubrey and Stephen de Vere, and the poet

Aubrey Thomas de Vere Aubrey Thomas de Vere (10 January 181420 January 1902) was an Irish poet and critic. Life Aubrey Thomas Hunt de Vere was born at Curraghchase House (now in ruins) at Curraghchase, Kilcornan, County Limerick, the third son of Sir Aubrey de Vere, ...

, and three daughters, two of whom died in infancy. The Hunt/de Vere family estate for 300 years (1657–1957), including the period of the de Vere Baronetcy of Curragh, is the present-day

Curraghchase Forest Park Curraghchase is a forest park located in County Limerick. It is 20 km from the city of Limerick, between the towns of Adare and Askeaton. The land was the Hunt/de Vere family estate for 300 years (1657–1957), including the period of the ...

, in

County Limerick "Remember Limerick" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Limerick.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Republic of Ireland, Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Provinces of Ireland, Province , subd ...

. De Vere spent most of his life on the estate and was closely involved in its management. He suffered much trouble from his ownership of the island of

Lundy Lundy is an English island in the Bristol Channel. It was a micronation from 1925–1969. It forms part of the district of Torridge in the county of Devon. About long and wide, Lundy has had a long and turbulent history, frequently chang ...

, which his father, who was a notoriously poor businessman, had unwisely purchased in 1802, and which became a heavy drain on the family's finances. Sir Vere was never able to find a purchaser for Lundy, and it took his son until 1834 (or 1830) to dispose of it. Sir Aubrey stood for election in the 1820 General Election and came in third with 2921 votes. He changed his surname from Hunt to de Vere on 15 March 1832, in reference to his Earl of Oxford ancestors, dating back to

Aubrey de Vere I Aubrey (Albericus) de Vere (died circa 1112-1113) was a tenant-in-chief in England of William the Conqueror in 1086, as well as a tenant of Geoffrey de Montbray, bishop of Coutances and of Count Alan, lord of Richmond. A much later source named h ...

, a tenant-in-chief in England of

William the Conqueror William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...

in 1086. He served as

High Sheriff of County Limerick The High Sheriff of Limerick was the British Crown's judicial representative in County Limerick, Ireland from the 13th century until 1922, when the office was abolished in the new Free State and replaced by the office of Limerick County Sheriff. ...

in 1811. Sir Aubrey was a poet.

Wordsworth William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication ''Lyrical Ballads'' (1798). Wordsworth's '' ...

called his

sonnets A sonnet is a poetic form that originated in the poetry composed at the Court of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II in the Sicilian city of Palermo. The 13th-century poet and notary Giacomo da Lentini is credited with the sonnet's inventio ...

the most perfect of the age. These and his drama, ''Mary Tudor: An Historical Drama'', were published by his son the poet Mr.

in 1875 and 1884.

Works

De Vere produced numerous works over his lifetime. The most notable are: ''Ode to the Duchess of Angouleme'' (1815), ''Julian the Apostate: A Dramatic Poem'' (1822), ''The Duke of Mercia: An Historical Drama''

ith The Ith () is a ridge in Germany's Central Uplands which is up to 439 m high. It lies about 40 km southwest of Hanover and, at 22 kilometres, is the longest line of crags in North Germany. Geography Location The Ith is immediatel ...

''The Lamentation of Ireland, and Other Poems'' (1823), ''A Song of Faith: Devout Exercises and Sonnets'' and his most famous work, ''Mary Tudor: An Historical Drama''.‘The Poems of the De Veres’, ''Dublin University Magazine'', XXI, 122 (Feb. 1843), pp.190-204.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:De Vere, Sir Aubrey 1788 births 1846 deaths Alumni of Trinity College Dublin 19th-century Anglo-Irish people Baronets in the Baronetage of Ireland Aubrey High Sheriffs of County Limerick Irish poets People educated at Harrow School Writers from County Limerick Sonneteers Nobility from County Limerick